Gas tanks

Lag time fast systems

Sample pressure - fast NOx

Surface O3 concentrations

Fast NOx data

TO DO LIST

Thursday, June 20th

Drierite in oven.
Calibration GC/MS with Catie’s tanks

Wednesday, June 19th

GC/MS

  • New sequence started.
  • Test calibration: CAL A tank, TL_20190619_04 (600 seconds).
  • NPL: TL_20190619_05 (600 seconds).
  • CAL B tank, TL_20190619_06 (600 seconds).

We connected calB tank to the GC/MS and did a run. I then analyzed our 4 ppb standard (NPL). Isoprene and benzene are in both standards. Using our NPL standard to quantify the peaks in the calB run, we get:
Isoprene: 2.3 ppb
Benzene: 3.2 ppb
In theory, we should get ~3 ppb. It’s a little low for isoprene but the order of magnitude is more than correct.

Enclosures

New sequence started on both autosamplers.

Tuesday, June 18th

GC/MS

NPL run TL_20190616_34 (2400 seconds).

Enclosures

  • Enclosure #1: moved to a different location.
  • Enclosure #2: new sequence started at ~1pm local time.

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 20.6°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~21.7°C, fast NOx = 20.0°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.6°C, fast NOx = -35.2°C.
  • Drierite changed on both instruments.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.
  • Gas tanks: OK.

Fast O3

Lost TeamViewer connection with fast O3. Stopped VIs at 10:21am AST and restarted the computer. Restarted VIs at 10:25am AST.

Puff system

5 injections at (fast NOx time):
2019-06-18 10:06:13
2019-06-18 10:07:47
2019-06-18 10:09:12
2019-06-18 10:10:29
2019-06-18 10:11:36

Monday, June 17th

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 21.6°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Fast O3: OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.

Saturday, June 15th

Balloon

24hr experiment (noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday) with BVOC sampling on cartridges every other flight.

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 20.7°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~21.2°C, fast NOx = 19.5°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.4°C, fast NOx = -35.6°C.
  • Changed drierite on both instruments.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.
  • Gas tanks: OK.

Enclosures

Sequence started on both autosamplers.

Friday, June 14th

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 20.6°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~21.5°C, fast NOx = 19.5°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.6°C, fast NOx = -35.4°C.
  • Drierite: OK.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.
  • Gas tanks: OK.
  • Profiler: zeros. Instrument and VI restarted at ~8:50am AST.

Enclosures

  • Enclosure #2 moved to different location (same as very first day).
  • Enclosure #1 moved to tent #2 close to cold storage. Everything reconnected, including the standard tank and the purge flow. We will have to do a leak check and flow check on the sample and purge lines tomorrow morning before we start sampling.

Thursday, June 13th

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 21.3°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~22.0°C, fast NOx = 20.0°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.8°C, fast NOx = -35.4°C.
  • Changed drierite on both instruments.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.
  • Gas tanks: OK.

GC/MS

We tried to connected the output of the TOF calibration system to the GC/MS to analyze their diluted standard. After several hrs we realized that this is not possible because their system cannot provide an excess flow to the GC/MS.

Wednesday, June 12th

Daily checks

  • The MET VI was off, I don’t know what happened. Restarted ~10am ADT.
  • Lab temperature = 21.2°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~22.2°C, fast NOx = 20.0°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.3°C, fast NOx = -35.4°C.
  • Drierite: OK.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.
  • Gas tanks: OK.

GC/MS

  • Change GC run time from 1500 to 1900 seconds because the chromatograms are ugly after 28 minutes and they shouldn’t according to Detlev. We’ll see if that changes anything.
    Update: it doesn’t change anything - back to 1500 seconds.

  • Enclosure #1 connected to GC/MS while standard tank is open. TL_20190610_39 and TL_20190610_40.
    List of compounds in standard:
  1. 2-methyl-2-butene
  2. dodecane
  3. tridecane
  4. tetradecane
  5. pentadecane.
    I just see 2-methyl-2-butene, don’t see the heavier compounds. The water trap might be too cold (-45°C).

Tuesday, June 11th

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 20.0°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~21.2°C, fast NOx = 19.3°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.4°C, fast NOx = -36.1°C.
  • Drierite: OK.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.
  • Gas tanks: OK.

Enclosures

New sequence on both enclosures.

GC/MS

Analysis of two bags filled with Zero Air from the tank. TL_20190610_22 and TL_20190610_24.

Monday, June 10th

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 21.3°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~21.2°C, fast NOx = 19.8°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.3°C, fast NOx = -35.6.
  • Changed drierite on both instruments.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.
  • Gas tanks: OK.
  • Fast O3 laptop synchronized with time.nist.gov at 9:12am AST.

GC/MS

New sequence: GCMS_Toolik_20190610.sequence.
TL_20190610_01 is NPL (Std3 BVOC) - 600 seconds.
TL_20190610_02 is Ambient BVOC.
I want to double check if we still have leftovers of heavy compounds now that Ads B X-fer line is at 120°C.
TL_20190610_03 is NPL (Std3 BVOC) again (600 seconds) but with Bakeout temp and time = 1.
TL_20190610_04 is Trap BVOC.
The following samples are Ambient BVOC samples.

Enclosures

  • HOBO#1 and #2 data saved at ~9:30am local time.
  • New sequence on enclosure #1:
  1. 90636 - 6/10/2019 14:00 to 6/10/2019 16:00
  2. 4524 - 6/10/2019 16:30 to 6/10/2019 18:30
  3. 4554 - 6/10/2019 19:00 to 6/10/2019 21:00
  4. 4696 - 6/10/2019 21:30 to 6/10/2019 23:30
  5. 282 - 6/11/2019 00:00 to 6/11/2019 2:00
  6. 90622 - 6/11/2019 2:30 to 6/11/2019 4:30
  7. 4586 - 6/11/2019 5:00 to 6/11/2019 7:00
  8. 90992 - 6/11/2019 7:30 to 6/11/2019 9:30
  9. 4675 - 6/11/2019 10:00 to 6/11/2019 12:00
  10. 4477- 6/11/2019 12:30 to 6/11/2019 14:30
    In Alaska Standard Time (GMT-9).
  • New sequence on enclosure #2:
  1. 701 - 6/10/2019 15:00 to 6/10/2019 17:00
  2. 90920 - 6/10/2019 17:30 to 6/10/2019 19:30
  3. 4528 - 6/10/2019 21:00 to 6/10/2019 22:00
  4. 90922 - 6/10/2019 22:30 to 6/11/2019 00:30
  5. 4660 - 6/11/2019 1:00 to 6/11/2019 3:00
  6. 294 - 6/11/2019 3:30 to 6/11/2019 5:30
  7. 4464 - 6/11/2019 6:00 to 6/11/2019 8:00
  8. 4558 - 6/11/2019 8:30 to 6/11/2019 10:30
  9. 4624 - 6/11/2019 11:00 to 6/11/2019 13:00
  10. 638- 6/11/2019 13:30 to 6/11/2019 15:30
    In Alaska Standard Time (GMT-9).

Puff system

6 injections at (fast NOx time):
2019-06-10 14:40:52
2019-06-10 14:42:03
2019-06-10 14:51:43
2019-06-10 14:53:01
2019-06-10 14:54:41
2019-06-10 14:56:16

Sunday, June 9th

GC/MS

Edited sequence to add runs: TL_20190607_45 to _51.

Enclosure #2

Sequence ended at 7:45pm local time. Enclosure moved to a different location at ~8:30pm local time.

Enclosure #1

New sequence:
1) 251 - 6/9/2019 20:00 to 6/9/2019 22:00
2) 90697 - 6/9/2019 22:30 to 6/10/2019 00:30
3) 4693 - 6/10/2019 1:00 to 6/10/2019 3:00
4) 4712 - 6/10/2019 3:30 to 6/10/2019 5:30
5) 4572 - 6/10/2019 6:00 to 6/10/2019 8:00
6) 4575 - 6/10/2019 8:30 to 6/10/2019 10:30
7) 4680 - 6/10/2019 11:00 to 6/10/2019 13:00
In Alaska Standard Time (GMT-9).

Note that the flow rate was 196 mL/min on the autosampler when I started the sequence. Double check the flow rate tomorrow.

Saturday, June 8th

Fast NOx

Detlev and I found a way to pull the instrument forward and access the back. We disconnected all the H2O tubings and checked that water was indeed flowing: OK, the H2O pump is doing its job. After testing a few things, Detlev blew in all the tubes to check for flow resistance. The water flow rate is now a little bit higher - we might have gotten rid of air bubbles somewhere (in the PMT?). Instrument restarted at 6:05pm AST, PMT at -34.2°C.

GC/MS

When I do a NPL run, I have leftovers of heavy compounds on following Ambient run. Detlev realized that that’s probably because the Ads-B transfer line wasn’t heated. In the VI, sheet “Heaters & Coolers”, ‘Heat AdsB X-fer’ should be ON. Now the line is heated at 120°C (was at ~60°C before). Done at ~5pm AST.

Enclosures

9:20am AST:
* Autosampler #2 still running - nothing to report.
* Checked and saved data HOBO#1 and HOBO#2.
* Standard tank connected to enclosure #1: note that the tank is still closed. The heated blanket doesn’t work. The tank temperature was ~20°C yesterday at 5:45pm AST, it’s now at 15.8°C.

  • Started a sequence on autosampler/enclosure #1. Note that the standard tank is not connected to the enclosure. I checked the flow rate (because we had to cut the line and we’re using tape): 25 L/min.
  1. 609 - 6/8/2019 18:15 to 6/8/2019 20:15
  2. 4619 - 6/8/2019 20:45 to 6/8/2019 22:45
  3. 4427 - 6/8/2019 23:15 to 6/9/2019 1:15
  4. 4407 - 6/9/2019 1:45 to 6/9/2019 3:45 broken
  5. 4639 - 6/9/2019 4:15 to 6/9/2019 6:15
  6. 4433 - 6/9/2019 6:45 to 6/9/2019 8:45
  7. 4555 - 6/9/2019 9:15 to 6/9/2019 11:15
  8. 4637 - 6/9/2019 11:45 to 6/9/2019 13:45
  9. 4564 - 6/9/2019 14:15 to 6/9/2019 16:15
  10. 4497 - 6/9/2019 16:45 to 6/9/2019 18:45
    In Alaska Standard Time (GMT-9).
  • Started a sequence on autosampler/enclosure #2.
  1. 4527 - 6/8/2019 18:15 to 6/8/2019 20:15
  2. 4454 - 6/8/2019 20:45 to 6/8/2019 22:45
  3. 4499 - 6/8/2019 23:15 to 6/9/2019 1:15
  4. 4521 - 6/9/2019 1:45 to 6/9/2019 3:45
  5. 4623 - 6/9/2019 4:15 to 6/9/2019 6:15
  6. 4571 - 6/9/2019 6:45 to 6/9/2019 8:45
  7. 4698 - 6/9/2019 9:15 to 6/9/2019 11:15
  8. 713 - 6/9/2019 11:45 to 6/9/2019 13:45 broken
  9. 4431 - 6/9/2019 14:15 to 6/9/2019 16:15
  10. 4496 - 6/9/2019 16:45 to 6/9/2019 18:45
    In Alaska Standard Time (GMT-9).

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 23°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~23.4°C, fast NOx = ~23.2°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.8°C, fast NOx = 23.2 (PMT cooler off).
  • Drierite: OK.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: off.
  • Gas tanks: OK.
  • Profiler: Counts dropped to 0 for sizes > 0.3. I unplugged/plugged it in several times and restarted the VI. At 9:15am AST everything looks OK now.

Friday, June 7th

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 20.8°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~22.5°C, fast NOx = ~22.7°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.8°C, fast NOx = 23.2 (PMT cooler off).
  • Changed drierite on both instruments.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: off.
  • Gas tanks: OK.
  • Fast O3 laptop synchronized with time.nist.gov at 12:40pm AST.
  • Changed Zero Air tank at 5:20pm local time.

Enclosure #2

New sequence started. Will end tomorrow afternoon (4:45pm local time). 1) 4955 - 6/7/2019 10:45 to 6/7/2019 12:45
2) 4467 - 6/7/2019 13:45 to 6/7/2019 15:45
3) 4573 - 6/7/2019 16:45 to 6/7/2019 18:45
4) 4700 - 6/7/2019 19:45 to 6/7/2019 21:45
5) 4576 - 6/7/2019 22:45 to 6/8/2019 00:45
6) 4504 - 6/8/2019 1:45 to 6/8/2019 3:45
7) 4681 - 6/8/2019 4:45 to 6/8/2019 6:45
8) 90621 - 6/8/2019 7:45 to 6/8/2019 9:45
9) 4474 - 6/8/2019 10:45 to 6/8/2019 12:45
10) 995 - 6/8/2019 13:45 to 6/8/2019 15:45
In Alaska Standard Time (GMT-9).

Enclosure #1

We’re in the process of getting started with the standard tank. Detlev injected all the compounds and the tank is ready. Tank is connected to purge line (pump sending air to enclosure).
* tank temperatuare at 20.1°C at 5:45pm local time. Should reach 40°C. Check tomorrow.
* flow rate into enclosure 24.3 L/min.
* flow rate out of tank 10 mL/min.

GC/MS

New sequence: GCMS_Toolik_20190607. Samples TL_20190607_01 to _03: trash, I messed up. Sample TL_20190607_04 is Std3 BVOC (NPL). Then Ambient BVOC samples.

Fast NOx

Drained H20 several times and restarted H20 pump. Seems to be working just fine for now. PMT cooler restarted at 2:02pm AST. It still doesn’t work - I give up after several attempts. 5:22pm local time: H2O pump off, PMT cooler off, PMT HV off.

Thursday, June 6th

Fast NOx

PMT temperature increased to -20°C. Tried to remove air bubbles but didn’t do the trick. I turned off the PMT HV, the PMT cooler and the H20 pump. I will try to troubleshoot tomorrow.
### Daily checks
* Lab temperature = 21.8°C, AC temperature = 65F.
* Case temperature: fast O3 = ~23.2°C, fast NOx = ~20.8°C.
* PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.4°C, fast NOx = -20.5°C.
Removed bug air bubble in H20 tubings at ~8:40am AST, will keep an eye on PMT temperature to see if that solved the problem. Okay, temperature slowly going down.
* Drierite: OK.
* Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK. * Fast NOx: OK. * Gas tanks: OK. * Fast O3 laptop synchronized with time.nist.gov at 8:39am AST.

Puff system

6 injections at (fast NOx time):
2019-06-06 08:56:43
2019-06-06 08:57:54
2019-06-06 08:58:59
2019-06-06 09:00:11
2019-06-06 09:01:57
2019-06-06 09:03:13

Wednesday, June 5th

Balloon

3 flights from 3:30am (local time) to breakfast. First two flights with O3 sonde only (clear gradient from ~10 to ~30ppbv). Third flight with bags as well to collected ambient air samples. Bags analyzed by Catie on TOF. The wind nearly crashed the balloon today around noon. We’ll have to fix a few things before we can lauch it again.

Enclosure #1

  • CO2 sensor connected to enclosure. Started collecting data around 3pm local time. Logging every 60 seconds.

  • Sequence on autosampler:
  1. 4583 - 6/5/2019 15:15 to 6/5/2019 17:15
  2. 4547 - 6/5/2019 18:15 to 6/5/2019 20:15
  3. 4672 - 6/5/2019 21:15 to 6/5/2019 23:15
  4. 4667 - 6/6/2019 00:15 to 6/6/2019 2:15
  5. 4438 - 6/6/2019 3:15 to 6/6/2019 5:15
  6. 4526 - 6/6/2019 6:15 to 6/6/2019 8:15
  7. 722 - 6/6/2019 9:15 to 6/6/2019 11:15
  8. 691 - 6/6/2019 12:15 to 6/6/2019 14:15
  9. 4477 - 6/6/2019 15:15 to 6/6/2019 17:15
  10. 4529 - 6/6/2019 18:15 to 6/6/2019 20:15

Enclosure #2

  • Sequence on autosampler:
  1. 4509 - 6/5/2019 14:15 to 6/5/2019 16:15
  2. 4725 - 6/5/2019 17:15 to 6/5/2019 19:15
  3. 4742 - 6/5/2019 20:15 to 6/5/2019 22:15
  4. 90633 - 6/5/2019 23:15 to 6/6/2019 1:15
  5. 4632 - 6/6/2019 2:15 to 6/6/2019 4:15
  6. 4492 - 6/6/2019 5:15 to 6/6/2019 7:15
  7. 703 - 6/6/2019 8:15 to 6/6/2019 10:15
  8. 763 - 6/6/2019 11:15 to 6/6/2019 13:15
  9. 721 - 6/6/2019 14:15 to 6/6/2019 16:15
  10. 4462 - 6/6/2019 17:15 to 6/6/2019 19:15

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 21.2°C, AC temperature = 65F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~23.2°C, fast NOx = ~20.5°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.4°C, fast NOx = -28.8°C.
  • Drierite: OK.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK but counts back to 300-400?!
  • Gas tanks: OK.
  • Fast O3 laptop synchronized with time.nist.gov at 2:51pm AST.

GC/MS

Note that I messed up yesterday when I restarted the sequence after the calibration runs. In inlet system sequence, a few samples where Ambient OVOC instead of Ambient BVOC. A few chromatrograms are thus empty. I updated the sequence at ~11am local time.

Tuesday, June 4th

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 23.0°C, AC temperature = 68F. Changed AC temperature to 65F at 9:19am local time.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~25.1°C, fast NOx = ~22.5°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -34.4°C, fast NOx = -31.7°C.
  • Changed drierite.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK but high counts (5000-5500).
  • Gas tanks: OK.
  • Fast O3 laptop synchronized with time.nist.gov at 8:22 AST.

Enclosures

  • Enclosure #2 has been running all night, ends at 3:30pm AST. Saved HOBO#2 data at 9:22am AST. At the end of the sequence: checked autosampler flowrate (set = 250 mL/min, Defender = 275 mL/min). Enclosure moved to a different location at ~3:40pm AST.
  • Prepared enclosure #1. Checked flow rate pump (27 L/min) and leak check on the line (autosampler’s flow rate dropped to 0 when cap on line in bag). HOBO#1 started. Checked flow rate autosampler: set = 200 mL/min, Defender = 265 mL/min. We can start sampling BVOCs + CO2 tomorrow.

GC/MS calibration

Using Catie’s tanks.
* Calib B tank: samples TL_20190604_01 and TL_20190604_02.
* Calib A tank: samples TL_20190604_03 and TL_20190604_04.

I then restarted the sequence. Following samples are “Ambien BVOC” samples.

Monday, June 3rd

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 23.0°C, AC temperature = 68F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~24.7°C, fast NOx = ~22.5°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.0°C, fast NOx = -32.2°C.
  • Drierite: OK, change it probably later today or tomorrow morning.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK but high counts (5000-5500).
  • Gas tanks: OK.
  • Fast O3 laptop synchronized with time.nist.gov at 8:18 AST.

Enclosure #2

  • Autosampler #2 connected to Anssi’s sample line in the tent.
  • Put a cap on sample line in the bag (remove O3 scrubber) and autosampler’s flow rate decreased to 0.02 L/min. No leak on the line.
  • valves temp = 40°C, cartriges temp = 35°C.
  • Set of 10 cartriges:
  1. 90987 - 6/3/2019 15:00 to 6/3/2019 17:00
  2. 4545 - 6/3/2019 17:30 to 6/3/2019 19:30
  3. 90971 - 6/3/2019 20:00 to 6/3/2019 22:00
  4. 781 - 6/3/2019 22:30 to 6/4/2019 00:30
  5. 90951 - 6/4/2019 1:00 to 6/4/2019 3:00
  6. 4645 - 6/4/2019 3:30 to 6/4/2019 5:30
  7. 655 - 6/4/2019 6:00 to 6/4/2019 8:00
  8. 4536 - 6/4/2019 8:30 to 6/4/2019 10:30
  9. 259 - 6/4/2019 11:00 to 6/4/2019 13:00
  10. 90601 - 6/4/2019 13:30 to 6/4/2019 15:30

Sunday, June 2nd

Saturday, June 1st

Daily checks

  • Lab temperature = 22.1°C, AC temperature = 68F.
  • Case temperature: fast O3 = ~22.9°C, fast NOx = ~18.1°C.
  • PMT temperature: fast O3 = -35.3°C, fast NOx = -34.2°C.
  • Drierite: OK.
  • Fast O3: OK, NO flow rate OK.
  • Fast NOx: OK.
  • Gas tanks: OK.
  • Fast O3 laptop synchronized with time.nist.gov at 8:17 AST.

Puff system

3 injections at (fast NOx time):
2019-06-01 08:34:35
2019-06-01 08:36:05
2019-06-01 08:37:56

Enclosure #2

I checked HOBO data.

GC/MS

  • Detlev made changes to the method yesterday (BVOC_SCAN_SIM_190531.M): the oven stays at 120°C between samples now and decreases to 35°C when the run starts (the lower we go, the better the earlier peaks such as isoprene are). Today, we increased the max temperature of the method to 260°C instead of 250°C. Note that we did not change the method’s name, still BVOC_SCAN_SIM_190531.M.

  • Today we updated the SIM time segments:

We also updated the peaks for each segments:
* alkanes + CFC-11: 41, 43 (alkanes) 101, 103 (CFC-11).
* isoprene: 67, 68.
* CFC-113: 101, 151.
* metacrolein + MVK: 41, 55, 70.
* aromatics (benzene, toluene, xylenes): 78, 91, 106.
* MT: 68, 93, 121, 136.
* SQT: 204, 91, 93, 119, 69.

  • We disconnected the GC/MS line (tee that also goes to slow O3). The GC/MS is now connected to the enclosure #2 outside. We checked that there’s not leak putting a cap on the line outside.
    Sample TL_20190601_01.
    TL_20190601_02 is NPL.

BVOC bags

Kaixin and Jacob collected ambient air samples in 4 different bags. Catie analyzed them on the TOF.